Top Five’s Top One: The Incomparable Snooki

It was the final week of summer (unofficially, of course), traditionally one of the most uneventful weeks on TV all year. And yet, we were still able to cull a few gems from the airwaves for this week’s Top Five.

Read ‘em and weep (or laugh):

1) The wonder that is Snooki: Like so many so-called celebrities today — all the bold-face names who are famous for being famous — Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi possesses no discernible skills or talents. And yet, you can’t take your eyes off of her. Such was the case this past week when she appeared on “The Tonight Show” on NBC — incongruously seated beside fellow guest Jeff Bridges, who seemed as enthralled with her as the rest of us. Our favorite moment: Jay Leno asking her if she met Chef Boyardee while she was in Italy and she answered, “Oh, does he live there?”

Watch the incomparable Snooki, with Jeff Bridges, on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” here:

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2) Dancing with the “Stars”: The word “Stars” is in quotes because the new cast of “Dancing with the Stars” — revealed this past Monday during “Bachelor Pad” on ABC — was lambasted by critics (and Jay Leno, among others) for their questionable celebrity credentials. The critics had a point, but here’s another point: The word celebrity is certainly not as easy to define as it once was. Today, it really can refer to virtually anyone the media (in this case, ABC) says is a celebrity, whether he or she are truly “celebrated” or not.

Ya call these people stars? Reach your own conclusion by watching this:

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3) Comes a Horseman — William Shatner! There’s something about the dog days of August that make the late-night shows (the ones not away on vacation, that is) more loosy-goosy than usual (see No. 1 above). Such was the case when William Shatner visited Craig Ferguson for some horsing around earlier this week on Craig’s “Late Late Show” on CBS.

Here’s what happened:

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4) “America’s Got Talent” is red-hot: And not just in the ratings — the NBC talent series got fired up this week when a daredevil tumbler tumbled a bit too much and almost “flamed” out when he leapt through a ring of fire and knocked it to the ground, where it landed right on him.

Watch the amazing video here:

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5) We wouldn’t lie about this:“Pretty Little Liars” had a shocking finale. But don’t take my word for it — read what our in-house expert on the show, Sara Bibel, had to say about the show’s first-season finale in her recap right here.